Shifting identities

Modesto Brocos y Gomez and the importance of the Triptych of Santiago in Galicia

Abstract

Modesto Brocos y Gomez (1852-1936) was a Compostela-born painter and former scholar at the Rio de Janeiro National School of Fine Arts whose personal trajectory and artistic thought resulted, especially, in a painting Ham’s Redemption (1895) and others, from frequent travels between Rio de Janeiro and Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. However, Brocos y Gomez’ thought is much broader and can be seen in other of his paintings and written texts. With a view to fostering knowledge about the artist and to highlighting processes and shifts that played a role in his career, this paper offers insights on his attention to identities in his art work. It focuses particularly on one of his little-known pieces, the Triptych of Santiago in Galicia (1899), part of the art collection of the Museum of Santiago de Compostela which, for aesthetic reasons as well as for his tours outside of Spain, have not yet been duly explored. Based on visual and written documents accessed in public and private collections, this paper addresses aspects surrounding the painting’s production and circulation, considering the impact of its reception in later periods and its contribution to reviving pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, in addition to assessing the recognition of the Museum’s art collection. Hence it explores Brocos y Gomez’ intermittent performance and concludes, from a more nuanced perspective, that his artistic thought shifts between the cultures that surrounded him, his identity issues, and the artistic styles exchanged between Brazil and Europe from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries.